Jamaican Teas Ltd, through its property subsidiary H Mahfood and Sons, hopes to commence the development of 18 super studios in Manor Park, St Andrew, in August.

CEO of the company, John Mahfood, disclosed that funds from its St Thomas-based Orchid Estate will be used to develop the Port View project in Manor Park, minimising its reliance on the bank.

“Our project in St Thomas is nearing completion; we expect to complete in June,” Mahfood told shareholders at the Jamaican Teas Annual General Meeting last Wednesday at the Marriott Hotel in New Kingston. He added that of the 72 units, roughly 10 units have not been sold.

Orchid Estates is touted as the largest real estate development in Yallahs, St Thomas. According to Mahfood, the two-bedroom units have so far generated good response from home owners as it relates to travel time.

“We have 36 units completed and paid for, so the funds for another 36 units will come in. There’s a fairly large balance for inventory, which is the investment we have for real estate, but that will be liquidated through the sale of those 36 units,” he said.

Starting price of an Orchid Estates unit is $6.95 million.

Jamaican Teas’ Manor Park development will consist of 18 super studios each measuring 635 square feet and overlooking Kingston.

As for selling price of the studios; “We have not quite tied that down yet, but it is basically between $15 and $17 million,” Mahfood said.

After listing on the Junior Stock Exchange in 2010, Jamaican Teas diversified its operation into three divisions; namely manufacturing, retail and real estate. The real estate division — operated by subsidiary Mahfood and Sons, develops housing and commercial properties.

For the financial year ending September 2016, the group achieved net profit of $118 million, an increase of 64 per cent or $46 million over 2015 results. Jamaican Teas’ involvement in real estate development resulted in $267 million being included in inventory for development in progress at 30 September 2016.